Under the Sheets
by Chiyo Hamasaki
Summary: Serena has to deal with a very embarrassing rumor involving Darien and her. Unfortunately, Darien isn't making the whole ordeal any easier.


**Under the Sheets**

I've had this sitting on my desktop forever. I'm not too crazy over it, but I thought I would publish anyway. Please review, if you want.

Oh, and I use NA names in this one, as I like to rotate between Dub and Sub names.

* * *

It had taken years for them to find common grounds. _Years_. She had grown a bit, matured, and so had he. And when they did finally reach a truce both were surprised how easily a quasi-friendship sprung forth.

And all it took was one stupid cat's statement to send suspicious stares and whispered gossip their way.

Serena hated staying at her home when her parents and Sammy were out of town. She enjoyed spending the days with her friends but as of late her first choice for a stay during those lonely nights was Darien's place. There was nothing the newly turned eighteen year old young woman found more satisfying than thinking up new ways to annoy him; a feat that had gotten harder over the years. He now seemed impervious to every prank and whine she could cook up. But that was fine; Serena liked a challenge.

She also, in a weird, indescribable way liked Darien. She liked _liked_ Darien. Like, a lot. Luckily Serena was a girl of strong will, however, and was able to keep those feelings for him in check. She knew for a fact he didn't feel the same way about her as she did him so whenever she felt her heart going all gooey on her she reminded herself how much of a field day Darien would have if he ever found out she was crushing -**bad**- on him. No, she would never let that happen.

Well, one night during one of her stays there arose a thunderstorm. That night Serena pleaded insistently with Darien to sleep with her in the bed that he had so graciously given up for her, not wanting to be alone in Darien's rather large apartment during a "spooky wooky boom boom storm". And maybe she also wanted to be close to the object of her unrequited affection, but she wouldn't admit that to even herself if it were true - which is wasn't. Totally not true.

Anyway, at first he refused, playfully saying that she probably snored like a dying mutt; but he eventually relented and joined her. That's where their problem came from. Although the night spent side by side was nothing more than friendly comfort, the small black cat who happened to wonder in on the dozing duo early one morning through an open window didn't know that at all. The next day that same cat proceeded to tell all of the Scouts that Serena and Darien were _sleeping_ together. The misunderstanding arose when their friends' minds crashed into the gutter.

"I don't care if you are sleeping with Darien, I really don't!" Raye eased in their conversation for the fifteenth time that day. The dark haired girl had long since given up her crush on Darien and had moved on to Chad and she felt the need to remind Serena of this constantly under the suspicious Serena like-liked Darien. Now her suspicious were magnified by a million after her little chat with Luna. "It's just that, being one of your best friends, I like to think that you tell me everything." Purple eyes swiftly glanced up from the glass of water she was pouring for herself. "After all, I told you about that embarrassing day with Chad,"; a humiliation she had only shared with Serena.

"For the millionth time," Serena sighed heavily, getting really tired of this. "I'm not having s-e-x with Darien! I'm just _sleeping_ with him!" Raye donned a slightly shocked gaze before Serena could start shaking her head profusely. "_No_, **no**! Not like that! I mean I'm not sleeping with Darien; I'm _sleeping _with **Darien**." Raye's gaze never wavered, which caused Serena to squirm in her seat. "I mean, can't two adult friends share a bed without everyone assuming something sexual is going on?"

The answer was obviously a resounding no. All of her friends looked at her with a curious stare and, in the case of both Lita and Raye, threatened to kick Darien's ass if he dared hurt their Princess. Regardless of how much she denied the rumor, it refused to go away.

One thing that did stay away, however, was Darien. For some time he was painfully absent from all of his local hangout spots. Local hangout spots that both he and Serena frequented. She assumed he was just as embarrassed as she was and was merely trying to avoid the awkward conversations and death threats he was sure to receive once he showed up.

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon and the arcade was closed to patrons, but Andrew had let the girls stay in late while he did some cleaning up in the backroom. It seemed as though Serena was, oddly enough, the only one not interested in wasting time playing video games that day, so she sat alone by herself while her friends raced one another on the newest virtual car game.

Speaking of her friends, they were acting...odd today. They were treating her differently, very differently. True they had treated her a tad bit different ever since the rumor had spread about her and Darien doing the horizontal tango together, but this was different. Lita had offered to pay for her ice cream and Raye kept giving her kind smiles and asking her is she was feeling okay. Mina had asked her what was her favorite names for no apparent reason, and Amy had sympathetically patted her hand in a show of comfort and support. Support for what, Serena had no idea.

As Serena sat and pondered over this her keen ear heard the sound of a key entering the lock of the front door. Immediately she perked up glad she'd have someone to talk to and curious as to who would have an extra pair of keys to the arcade and feel comfortable enough coming in after hours. When it appeared to be a dark haired man dressed in a ugly puke green jacket her perkiness suddenly vanished. He had undoubtedly heard the rumors that her; and probably his friends by now, vehemently believed. That alone was enough to make her blush, but she knew she had to straighten this mess out sooner or later. She couldn't go the rest of her life without seeing her most unlikeliest of friend who always seemed to brighten her day in some very weird way. Something she never would have imaged only four years ago.

"Hey Darien." She tried to sound normal as he took his normal seat.

Darien asked with interest "So what have I missed around the watering hole these days?" He sounded normal, _too_ normal.

"Not much really." Serena lied. She wasn't sure if Darien was pretending or if he truly was oblivious to the rumors that had enveloped the two of them.

"Aw, surely there must be _something _worth noting."

The way he spoke made Serena suspicious. "So you heard?" She asked flatly.

He shrugged. "I might have heard something or other."

Sighing "Well about that,...this whole thing is that cat's fault!" she grew red with indignation at just the thought of Luna.

"Cat?" Darien looked at her strangely.

Quickly she covered her tracks, suddenly remembering Darien wasn't in on her superhero double life. "Ah, _cad_. That cad's fault! My friend, um, Melvin! Yeah, Melvin!"

"The guy with the huge glasses? I'm sure he didn't mean any harm. Don't be so hard on him."

"Yeah, well maybe; but thanks to him I've got everyone looking at me funny. Even Amy asked if I was dating you! Amy! Miss I-Don't-Do-Gossip!" She threw her hands up in the air dramatically. "We gotta straighten this out! I can't deal with this anymore. Maybe if we both denied it and L_u_-_M_elvin backed us up they'd stop hounding me."

Darien pondered her words in silence for a moment. "Maybe...it would have," he dragged out.

"Yeah! I think so too - wait. What? '_Maybe it would have'_? What do you mean?"

"I mean it's too late for that now," he clarified.

Serena suddenly got an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Darien? What did you do?"

A large grin that could only be compared to that of a please Cheshire cat crossed his face.

"Well Lita and Raye barged into my home the other day," he trailed off.

"And...?" she prompted.

"And I simply told them what they falsely believed. I didn't want to burst their bubbles."

Serena knew exactly what it was Darien 'told' the two women who undoubtedly relayed this back to the rest of their friends, but still Serena wanted to know. "Exactly, what did you tell them?"

"I told them that you and I had been having a physical relationship for several months now and that you were pregnant."

The Moon Princess' mouth dropped opened and her cheeks flushed red. "Darien!" she reprimanded as she hit him so hard on the shoulder she nearly fell off of her stool.

"Hey, if you're going to lie you might as well make it a good one," Darien remarked casually with a smile.

"Yeah well they don't know it's a lie!" Her cheeks were growing redder with embarrassment by the minute. "And now they think we are...are..._well _**ARE **and that I'm **pregnant**!"

Darien calmly shrugged. "Let them believe what they want to believe."

"Yeah, well nine months from now or whatever when I don't pop out a kid they'll all know you lied about everything. That Darien Shields is a liar; a dirty liar."

She pointed her finger accusingly at him. He sent her that infamous smile again and coolly replied to the ruffled blond, "Who's to say that it will still be a lie by then?"


End file.
